Archive for March, 2011

Today Apple confirmed that the iPad 2 will be launched in 25 countries on this Friday: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK. Online sales will start at 1:00 AM Friday in each country and in-store at 5:00 iPad 2 will be available in Apple Stores. Apple also announced today that the iPad 2 will launch in Hong Kong, Singapore and other countries in April.

Apple has released the latest update to the Snow Leopard operating system, Mac OS X 10.6.7. The 10.6.7 Update is recommended for all users running Mac OS X Snow Leopard and includes general operating system fixes that enhance the stability, compatibility, and security of your Mac, including fixes that:

• Improve the reliability of Back to My Mac;
• Resolve an issue when transferring files to certain SMB servers;
• Resolved an issue with mid-2010 MacBook Air kernel panics, AirPort driver issues;
• Improved brightness on external displays;
• Resolved a DVD player playback issue only seen on 64-bit Macs;
• Resolved the issue that could cause users accounts to disappear after the system went to sleep.

MacRumors reports an interesting and rather amazing story concerning the new iPad 2. As far as we know, Apple keeps an eye on the iPad 2 returns to identify any problems with the new tablet in early production units, like light-bleeding we’ve been hearing about. Among such returns was one really unusual with Post-it note saying that "Wife says no." The customer’s wife wouldn’t let him to keep the device.

But a pair of the Apple’s Vice-presidents got wind of the story and decided to send him a replacement out of free iPad 2 with a new Post-it note on it: “Apple said yes”. Sounds like a great story, isn’t it?

Stuart Hughes has created the most expensive and exclusive iPad 2 in the world. The 3G iPad 2 encrusted with diamonds, gems, gold, a 75 million year old Ammolite rock and a 65 million year old dinosaur bone, costs a whopping £5,000,000.00.

Undoubtably the world’s most unique gadget is the Ipad 2 Gold History Edition. Encrusted with 12.5 cts of ‘I’F’ Flawless diamonds, a magnificent total of 53 individually set sparkling gems dwell beautifully in solid 24ct Apple logo with rear section formed again in 24ct gold weighing an immense 2,000 grams. The unrivalled imagination towards the craftmanship of the ipad is down to its main front frame which is made from the oldest rock the world has to offer in the form of Ammolite , sourced from Canada this stone is over 75 million years old. However to make this masterpiece even more individual, sections of a 65 million year old T-REX Dinosaur’s thigh bone was splintered and then shaved into the Ammolite , then finished off with ultimate jewel , as single cut 8.5ct flawless diamond inlaid in its own platinum surround with 12 outer flawless diamonds. A magnificent combination of top of the industry technology and unique thought were involved in creating this piece of History.

According to Bloomberg, Apple has sued Amazon over the use of the name “App Store”.  Apple, in a complaint filed March 18, accused Amazon.com of trademark infringement and unfair competition and asks for a court order to prevent the company from using the “App Store” name. Amazon is planning to launch its own “Amazon Appstore” for Android devices, a marketplace to distribute and download apps. Apple claims to have contacted Amazon three times demanding that they change their name, but Amazon has yet to provide a "substantive response".

“Amazon has begun improperly using Apple's App Store mark in connection with Amazon's mobile software developer program," Apple said in the complaint. “We’ve asked Amazon not to copy the App Store name because it will confuse and mislead customers.”

iPad 2 was expected to hit Europe on March 25th. However Czech Republic iPad website now shows that iPad 2 will be available April 25, so they might just got pushed back a month. (for those not in the know, Dubna=April).

Gevey has released a SIM Interposer which can unlock the iPhone up to iOS 4.3 by force activating the baseband using the emergency dialer.

SIM Interposer works by adding a EEPROM chip to your SIM card just like a TurboSIM. The unlock uses the ability to call 112, a number that can be called from any GSM phone.

To unlock you need to insert chip with your sim card, dial 112, once it connects hang up, toggle Airport mode on and off - that's it, you unlocked your iPhone 4. We do not know yet if this is completely legal solution, so you might want to wait for DevTeam software unlock.

Here are couple screenshots from redmondpie, showing iPhone 4 unlocked using Gevey SIM on 2.10.04 baseband, running on T-Mobile US network.

And here are two videos, proving it is real:

Read the rest of this entry »

Hackers released Sn0wBreeze 2.3 beta 4 utility, which is able to jailbreak the latest iOS 4.3. This jailbreak is tethered for iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS new bootrom, iPad, iPod Touch 3G, iPod Touch 4G. Tethered means that every reboot you will have to connect device to a computer and boot it using special utility (iBooty). Sn0wBreeze 2.3 beta 4 provides untethered jailbreak for iPhone 3GS old bootrom.

Sn0wbreeze also preserves your baseband, which is very useful for unlockers. Using Sn0wbreeze you can update firmware iOS 4.3, while preserve old unlockable baseband. It also works with iPhone 3GS with 06.15 baseband.

You can download Sn0wBreeze 2.3 beta 4 for Windows here.

iPad 2 microphones: 3G (top) vs. Wi-Fi (bottom)

iLounge found out that the microphones on Wi-Fi and 3G models of iPad 2 have differences in quality of sound.  The best sound quality was demonstrated by the Wi-Fi model.  It might be caused by the fact that the mic on the Wi-Fi model is on an aluminum surface while on 3G is on the black plastic. The differences are most noticeable when the iPad is held facing the user, for example, when using FaceTime or other video applications.

Perhaps due to this change in materials, the Wi-Fi model offers markedly cleaner audio than that of the 3G, which sounds slightly muffled and echo-prone as a result. Curiously, we found the GSM 3G model's audio to be slightly preferable to that of the CDMA model, which seemed to suffer the issues more severely.

In the previous model of iPad the microphone located next to the headphone jack on the top edge but in iPad 2 Apple decided to place it in the center. Though, it seems that such change does Apple more harm than good.

Traditional video from Blendtec. Now they try to blend Apple iPad 2. So will it blend? Let's watch to find out.

Well, they took aluminum case away.

Apple has finally brought wireless tethering functionality with iOS 4.3. It is called Personal Hotspot and allows users to share iPhone’s cellular data connection with other devices over WiFi connection.

For instance, you can connect your iPad WiFi only model to the internet via iPhone. There's one less reason to pay additional $130 for a 3G iPad. There is another difference between iPad WiFi and iPad 3G - GPS. Well, it looks loke WiFi-only iPad inherits GPS positioning capabilities when you tether the tablet to an iPhone via the Personal Hotspot feature.

Kyle Carmitchel from TabletMonsters discovered this by accident and posted a video to prove it.

Read the rest of this entry »

Apple published three new iPhone commercials that introduce an interesting new formula. Old ads used "There’s an app for that" catchphrase, the new commercials take the opposite angle. They start with a simple line "If you don’t have an iPhone," then launch into a quick overview of key iPhone features, with the voiceover explaining the stuff you’re unable to do unless.

In the end we hear the tagline, "Yup, if you don’t have an iPhone, well, you don’t have an iPhone.".

Here's two more - iBooks and iPod+iTunes commercials:

Read the rest of this entry »

Now, after release of the iPad 2, Apple is asking its US customers to donate their out-of-date fist-generation iPads to Teach For America. The company posted on its webpage a teaser that you may notice on the right visiting Apple’s official site. Apple says:

Your old iPad can help teach kids a thing or two. Donate your old iPad at an Apple Retail Store, and Teach For America will give it to a teacher in a low-income community.

Moreover, Teach For America is a corporation listed among those that provide tax deductions for direct donations. So if you’re interested in donating your old iPad for a good cause, you might, probably, receive a tax deduction in addition.

This time the second iPad’s A5 processor has became an object of teardown, revealing that the chip is indeed being manufactured by Samsung.  Some recent rumors claimed that Apple is shifting production from Samsung to TSMC. Apple is said to be interested in switching from Samsung because the company competes with both the iPhone and the iPad with its own devices - the Galaxy S smartphone and the Galaxy Tab tablet, respectively.

Read the rest of this entry »

After earthquake happened in Japan lots of people gathered around Apple Stores to use the internet connections. Using Skype and FaceTime, victims were able to contact family members.

Staff brought out surge protectors and extension cords with 10s of iOS device adapters so people could charge their phones & pads and contact their loved ones," the manager wrote, noting that the Apple retail stores are some of the only locations to offer free Wi-Fi in Japan. "Even after we finally had to close 10pm, crowds of people huddled in front of our stores to use the wifi into the night, as it was still the only way to get access to the outside world.

Read the rest of this entry »